Walk me at midnight
by Ififall
Summary: Sam and Tara decide to try to have a "normal" relationship But has Sam ruined his chances when she finds out his secret?
1. She's my girl not my owner

"Are ya ready?" Sam asked.

"I didn't get dressed up for nothin' said Tara curtly. Sam shook his head with a smile and they set off for their first offical date. Sam wanted it to be special, but it was really just a bite to eat in a resturant and then a romantic stroll. Tara wasn't Sookie, she was different and he liked that. He decided to see her as an invidividual, rather than just Sookie's best friend like he had in the past. In the beginning when it was just casual, he thought he could handle the "no strings" thing, and it made him feel like one of the guys, but after watching her sleep next to him one night, he looked at her and realised this moment was perfect and he didn't want to replace her with Sookie, or anyone else.

Tara was a tough cookie, she had to be and he respected that, but he didn't want to just be seen as a hook up anymore, and at first she acted like she didn't care, but when she thought he'd moved on, she started to soften towards him. As the weeks went by her feelings grew and he sensed it, before making her jealous flirting with cute customers, she became unbearable and he finally put her out of her misery by deciding to make a move. It turned out to be one of the best choices he ever made. After their meal, they walked back with leftovers and Sam tried to link arms with her but Tara said that she didn't want to stink of onion rings. They walked down the street, Tara saying how she should be a better cook than she was because she felt like her mama's personal cook.

"Ya know ya mom should really try to learn" Sam told her.

"Are ya kidding me? If I let her loose the only thing that would be baked and crispy is our house" Tara said. Sam smiled, but his eyes widened in shock as a little stray dog ran up to him ready to go after their leftovers. Sam tried to shake the dog away but it was no use. Sam began to feel his stomach turn inside out as he felt the urge to change, but he couldn't. No-one was around but he had to make it go away for Tara's sake. The only problem was that Tara liked the dog and started patting it's fur.

"Don't do that Tara, ya don't know where it's been" Sam tried to make it seem dirty but Tara didn't listen, which cost her.

"It looks fine to me" Tara thought that the stray liked being touched as it stood still, but Sam could tell that it was starting to get frustrated and as Tara ruffled it's ears, it's head swerved and it bit her, acknowledging Sam with a grunt as it ran off. Sam knew that animals didn't have the ability to know what he was, but this dog was definately screwing with him. He dropped the paper bag and put his arm around Tara before getting the paper napkins in the bag to help wipe off the blood. The wound was small and Tara was startled but refused to cry as Sam gently told her that she was fine. Everything was going to be fine. He made a bad joke about good diners having crappy napkins and when she smiled back at him, he looked across the road so that she couldn't see his eyes light up, but what he saw across the street ruined it. He saw the same dog whining and growling at them, and the urge to attack it became too strong and before he knew it he was running towards the dog ready to take it on.

"Sam, I'm fine leave it be" Tara urged him, but Sam had had enough.

"Stay here" Sam almost growled at her.

"Sam!" She saw him run over to dog, chasing him down the pavement then on the grass into the woodland and ran after him with the paper bag in her bloodied hand, being the only spectator to watch her boyfriend do battle in a dog-fight.


	2. Snake break

Sam fought with the dog but by the time his opponent was running for it's life, Tara was no where to be seen. He found his clothes ripped and torn in the morning and headed home to get washed and dressed. He knew it was ridiculous to knock on Tara's door, but something told him that she got no sleep anyway. He lightly tapped on the door and she opened it a creak.

"Mind if I have a word?" Sam asked her.

"Aren't ya supposed to be scratching at the door?"

"Ya should let me in, it's cold and ya mom could catch somethin'

"Yeah like rabies" Sam looked at the floor and Tara realised she'd pushed her luck.

"Tara...please" Tara reluctantly let him in and Sam smiled gratefully as he wondered how he was gonna explain himself outta this one. "So...ya still comin' to work tonight?" Tara looked at him pissed.

"What?" Sam said, trying to act innocent.

"What? My boyfriend turned into Scooby Doo last night and that's all ya got?"

"So I'm still ya boyfriend then, What do ya want me to tell ya?" Sam asked, knowing the answer.

"Everything" Sookie walked out just after doing the morning shift and clumsly said hello to Tara going in. She was lost deep in thought as she walked off. Tara wondered if she knew and was determined to find out. After Sam served his last costumer and waved his staff off at closing time, Tara lingered as Sam shut the door and he knew that it was going to be a long night. Tara walked up the counter and leaned on it, while Sam copied her and leaned against her shoulder with a smile.

"Ya come here often?" he joked.

"Sam whether ya a man or a mutt you're too cute to spill out the shit that you do, so just tell me"

"Do ya want a drink first?"

"Nah, the state I'm in I'll end up like my mama" Sam montioned for her to sit on a stool and he poured himself a drink before he sat down and told her that he'd shifted since his teens and didn't know if it was genetic.

"Ya can turn into whatever?" She asked him.

"Pretty much"

"Do ya just do it when ya mad?"

"Nah, just when needs must"

"When must ya turn into needing a pooper scooper?"

"You'd be surprised at the shit I get myself into"

"I'll drink to that, pour me one would ya" Said Tara, flicking her hand toward the bottle. "When we're ya gonna tell me?" Tara asked as he filled a fresh glass and she drank it in one gulp.

"Honestly? never" Sam said.

"What?"

"Tara how could I tell ya? You'd freak, you could tell ya mom, the whole town could know then where would I go?"

"Ya think I'm like that? And ya not going anywhere"

"I may have to if people can't stand the fact I'm different"

"Well, look at me, some people don't like me but I..."

"Tara this isn't about you, you can't compare that to this"

"Why the hell not?"

"Tara, there are assholes out there, but you've got ya family, and I don't just mean ya mom. We'd have their tongues roasting on a open fire before they started, I've seen the damage it does when people see me shift, they change... they leave"

"What happened?" Tara asked, knowing Sam was hiding more.

"It don't matter"

"It does to me and ya better say..." Tara said, but Sam interuppted her.

"Don't push me on this ok? I'm not ready" Sam tolf her and Tara spoke to him gently.

"If we're in this together, ya gonna have to trust me Sam, I won't even tell Sookie" Tara promised, unaware she was in for a shock.

"Sookie knows" Tara shook her head in disbelief.

"I should have known, ya told her before ya told me"

"This was way before us, and I didn't tell her, she saw me shift"

"I bet she did, and ya loved every minute of it"

"Tara I'm..." Sam began.

"Ya want her, just like always don't ya?" Tara began walk towards the doors but Sam rushed towards the doors to stop her from leaving. "What ya gonna do Sam? Turn into a boa and squeeze me to stay?"

"This is exactly what I'm talking about" Sam said as he walked away from the doors leaving Tara seething.

"Don't dish it out if ya can't take it" She told him.

"It's like talking to a brick wall" Said Sam. "I'll see ya here tomorrow, the bar's closed"


	3. Don't trust the crush

"Don't talk to me like the drunkards that come in here" Tara ordered.

"Then stop acting like one"

"Ya trust Sookie more than me, how am I supposed to act?"

"Seriously Tara, excuse my French, but ya freak me the fuck out, a dog bit ya and ya saw me turn into one and chase it and that's ok, but cause Sookie knew first, that's a deal breaker? Grow up"

"Grow some balls then, tell me the truth and go back to pervin' over Sookie"

"I ain't telling you shit, I want you, you stubborn dumbass" Sam told her. Tara walked to the counter and stared at Sam questioningly. "Really?"

"Triple really, come here" Tara let her anger go as she held him tightly and he kissed her on the cheek and she responded by kissing him roughly and he moved a table and they began to kiss on the floor, but he pulled away. "We can't do this on the floor"

"Why? Too freaky?" Tara asked.

"No I've just had it cleaned" Tara gave him a strange look. "But the office still looks like crap"

"I'm not picky" Said Tara, as he helped her up and they went through the back to finish what they started. That night Tara called Sookie to ask her about what she knew, but Sookie firmly told her that she wouldn't get involved in their problems and Tara shuold stop trying to play the blame game. Tara turned off her cell and went to work the next day annoyed but able to talk to Sookie without swearing. When Sookie had to get Jason out of a jam, she left early and Tara couldn't stop wondering what had happened with him, and asked Sam every question she could think of. Back at Tara's mother's Sam pondered over the situation.

"Well knowing him, it has to be a girl" Sam replied, desperate to change the subject.

"I don't think Jason would put his neck on the line for a piece of ass" Tara said.

"Maybe he's in love" Sam said as a joke at first.

"Jason? Not a chance" Tara reckoned.

"Why not? The amount of girls he goes through it's bound to happen" Sam smiled as he saw the confused look on her face.

"With a topless tramp? I don't think so" Said Tara. Sam realised that Tara might be cynical about falling in love in general cause of how she was raised. But she was a little too defensive and Sam decided to test her.

"If he got with someone nice, a girl had his dinner on the table every night and they had a bunch of kids-"

"Stop it alright?" Tara said, moving away from him.

"What? Don't ya want him to be happy?"

"That's all I want"

"So what crawled up your ass...God, ya like Jason" Sam realised.

"I've known him since god knows when" Tara said, trying to defend herself.

"Have ya wanted to date him since god knows when?"

"Heck no"

"Tara the more angry ya get, the more I know I'm right"

"I'm just worried about him, can't I show concern about a friend without ya jumping down my throat?" Tara said crossly.

"It's more than that, ever since Sookie left you've talked about him all day"

"We talked about you yesterday"

"I know but ya busted my ass over Sookie when all along-"

"I'm not wasting my time listening to ya conspiracy theories"

"That ain't a theory, it's the truth" Sam said slowly, and Tara couldn't look at him.

"That's rich, comin' from you, or should I say poor" Tara threw back.

"I better go"

"Yeah you better" Sam marched out the house and smiled out at the locals resisting the urge to stand by the bench with the crow wobbling on it, even though all he wanted to do was shift and fly home through the sky to take his mind off the fact that he would always be second best in Tara's deep brown eyes.


	4. Wake Sam Up

Sam avoided Tara at work and just spoke to Sookie and the other waitresses which of course made Tara's blood boil, but for once he didn't care. He was mad that he was being replaced again. Sookie had Bill, Tara wanted Jason, so where did that leave him? If Jason was Tara's fantasy how could he compete with that? When he got home, he banged his keys on the table and turned the TV on. He thought about making himself a sandwich or somethinng when he heard a knock on the door. Although he had been thinking about her he was surprised to see Tara at the door.

"Shouldn't you be at stackhouse's house?" Sam asked.

"Jason's always gonna be a part of my life, that ain't gonna change"

"What is he in your life?" Sam asked.

"A friend, honestly" Tara made her way in and sam sighed as he realised he couldn't stop her and she sat down on the sofa.

"I'm gonna tell you straight Tara, if I had a dollar for everytime I've been replaced by someone better, I'd be rolling in money the day my mom was up the duff. If ya want Jason go for him, just don't drag me in it"

"I don't want him, I used to, I ain't gonna lie, when it was just me and my crazy ass mama, he was closest guy in my life and I can't forget that"

"I'm not asking ya too"

"I don't wanna rely on anyone, I mean you've seen my mama ok, she's thrown me in shit creek so many times, I'm a expert diver"

"You have someone to clear your shit, at least you have a mom"

"She causes it though, it comes out her mouth most of the time"

"I'm not gonna get into a pissing contest with you, I want you to go"

"No, not until we''ve sorted this" Tara told him.

"How can we? I just need to be alone" Sam lied.

"No you don't, what have you got to drink around here?"

"Juice, milk squash" Said Sam giving in.

"How old are ya? Ten?"

"I'm sure there's scotch at the back of the drawer"

"Nice...what have ya got to eat?"

"Cans of tuna, bread, beans, veggies, baloney"

"No canine cuisine?" Tara joked.

"Funny" Tara walked in the kitchen and yelled in shock. "Sam, what the hell is this?"

"Shit" Said Sam getting up to dispose of it. "Tara, step away from it, it's dead ok?"


	5. I'd love to tell you a lie

Sam got a cloth from the side and wrapped the bird up in it and put it outside and then came inside and dumped the cloth in the bin. "Sorry" He said.

"Went out on another doggy trip?" Tara asked.

"I guess" Sam washed his hands and went back to the sofa, and Tara followed him, wanting to understand him more. "Make yaself something" Tara went to the kitchen and made herself a sandwich, then came back out.

"Ya made nothin for me?"

"We need to let everythin' out"

"Tara I'm not like you" Sam told her.

"If ya were, ya would have turned into a bird and flown away ages ago"

"Do ya still want Jason?"

"No"

"Honestly?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be here"

"I know when I'm being fooled, and I know when I'm second best, I've been second, third and fourth all my life, if you don't feel somethin' for me or want this to be more than friendship then walk out my door and don't come back" Sam told Tara.

"I thought I was supposed to be the one that was pushing you away?" Tara asked.

"Things change"

"It was a long time ago, I like you Sam, and not just as a friend"

"Sure?"

"Damn right I'm sure" Sam got up and made himself a sandwich and sat back down with the plate in his lap. Tara looked at him.

"What?" Sam asked.

"When did ya first do it?"

"You want to talk about my first time?" Sam Joked.

"Stop trying to turn this into something dirty, but what was it like?"

"Confusing...and awful"

"Like puberty or something?" Tara asked.

"Umm no, considering teens don't turn into dogs"

"What did ya family say?" Tara asked, getting more interested.

"Nothin'"

"Nothing? Sam, stop lying, ya family saw something or knew summat and they said nothin'?"

"Tara I'm tired, you should go, I'll see you at work" Said Sam.

"But Sam ya can't..." Tara began.

"I can and I am Tara, I don't have the energy to explain this" Sam was worried. He didn't want Tara's pity, he wanted respect, but didn't think that Tara would ever look at him the same way if she realised what he'd been through.


End file.
